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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293291">And We Go Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andaxay/pseuds/Andaxay'>Andaxay</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Borderlands (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Mild Language</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 00:22:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,506</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28293291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andaxay/pseuds/Andaxay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Brought together once again against their will, the Con Artist and Company Man have a lot of score-settling to do, and a lot to learn while doing so. A series following Rhys and Fiona as they're dragged through the desert by their mysterious captor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fiona/Rhys (Borderlands)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I didn't ship anyone in this bloody game for so long but oh god, I ship them, I ship them SO MUCH. I reckon they had a lot to discuss in their downtime while being escorted at gunpoint throughout the wastes of Pandora. I was going to write the majority of this series before I posted anything, but England is a thoroughly miserable place to be right now, Christmas plans to see family after 12 months outright cancelled thanks to this pandemic and now the whole bloody place is flooding. Literally all routes north from my apartment are closed due to flooded roads. Needed something to cheer myself up with so here, have this now. I don't yet know how many chapters this will contain but, considering I have a LOT of downtime now, I should have plenty of time to work on this.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rhys volunteered to change the tyre.</p><p>Fiona thought it was surprisingly nice of him, until she reasoned it was probably because he had to concentrate and therefore wouldn't have to talk to her. Suited her just fine.</p><p>Besides, it gave her the first real opportunity to just... take him in. How long had it been? Almost a year, since Helios fell from the sky in flames? Taking him with it, or so she'd thought. The complete lack of contact from him following the collapse of Hyperion's ugly space station had only served to fuel her gut feeling that he'd died with it.</p><p>Nobody had been more surprised than she had been to find out he'd actually survived. A single piece of ECHO-Mail had dropped into the old device of Felix's that she'd managed to get working again not long after they'd arrived back in Hollow Point. Fiona had checked it several times a day, at first. Sasha thought she was being silly and Fiona had found herself checking it less and less as the days, weeks, months went on.</p><p>So, when the mail had arrived with a gentle ping, she'd nearly fallen out of her chair. It was brief, a quick message asking her to meet him back at the place where it had all started, where the fateful vault key deal had almost taken place.</p><p>Of course, it hadn't <em>actually</em> been him, instead, a trap laid by their mysterious captor and she'd gone and fallen for it because... what? She'd practically tripped over her own feet in her haste to meet him and mostly it was because she wanted to scream at him for ruining her life. For making them think he'd died, not bothering to contact them in any way. Or, at least, that was what she'd told herself and she definitely hadn't felt overwhelming, suffocating relief at the news that he was alive.</p><p>"So, are you just gonna... lurk ominously while I change this tyre, or what?"</p><p>One brown, one amber and both of them fixed her with a withering stare as he knelt by the flat tyre he was working on.</p><p>"Yeah," Fiona shrugged from where she was leaning with her back against the technical, arms folded as she watched him work. "It's only fair, when you used to lurk as <em>I </em>did all the work on the caravan."</p><p>"Cool, alright, just so we're clear on that. But could you lurk a bit less <em>ominously</em>?"</p><p>"I'm a Vault Hunter now, Rhys. I've gotta be ominous, it's practically in the job description."</p><p>"If you're Athena, maybe, though she's less 'ominous' and more straight-up 'holy-shit-we're-dead'," and Fiona couldn't disagree with that, letting out a small noise of agreement. "Zero, though?"</p><p>"Nah, they've got the whole 'ominous but like, in a really cool way' thing going on. I think Sasha approved heavily, judging from her stories about your escapades in that death rally, anyway."</p><p>"Did she tell you that I used <em>their sword</em> to slice a whole <em>monster</em> dog... thing open? I bet she left that part out, didn't she?"</p><p>"Yeah, I haven't heard anything about that. Maybe don't abandon your corporate dreams to become a Vault Hunter. How's that neck-snapping career going, though?"</p><p>Rhys huffed and turned back to his tyre. "He had a <em>thick neck</em>, ok?"</p><p>They fell silent as Rhys got to work again. Fiona took the opportunity to study him again, as subtly as she could. He'd shed his jacket in the heat and the rolled-up sleeves of the black shirt underneath revealed the robotic arm that was so very different to the one she'd been used to seeing.</p><p>Sleek and chrome and a very stark contrast to the heavier, overwhelmingly <em>yellow</em> one he'd had. It was almost as if he'd deliberately gone for something completely different, maybe to separate himself from everything Hyperion, as much as he could, anyway.</p><p>His eye, too, though that could hardly be described as <em>yellow</em> when it was was so much more than that and to describe it as <em>yellow</em> would do it a disservice. Warm, bright amber and a much closer colour to that of his natural eye.</p><p>Why change the eye, she wondered? If Rhys had wanted to distance himself from Hyperion, the blue colour of the eye she'd been so familiar with would have been much more further removed from Hyperion than the new one. Colour-wise, anyway.</p><p>He glanced up, exasperated and there was something very captivating about the amber. Her heart skipped the smallest beat.</p><p>"Alright, the lurking I can deal with, but <em>what</em> are you staring at?"</p><p>"Your complete inability to change a tyre," Fiona said as smoothly as she could, but she could tell even he thought that was bullshit. He raised a single eyebrow as he stared right back at her.</p><p>The old Rhys would have bought into her bullshit, probably shied away from questioning her. Fumbled over some response as he looked away. Certainly wouldn't have held her gaze for as long as he was doing now. It had only been a year. What had happened in that year?</p><p>"... Alright," Fiona conceded because the curiosity was winning as she took in this new Rhys fully for the first time since they'd been forcefully reunited. She sank down from where she was standing and sat cross-legged, her back leaning against the rear tyre of the technical, and looked pointedly at his arm. "New arm. Looks expensive."</p><p>"You are absolutely not stealing it during the night to sell on the black market," he narrowed his eyes at her, causing her to scoff, "and <em>anyway</em>, it's still a prototype. Got a few bugs to work out, still."</p><p>"You <em>built</em> it?" Fiona was stunned as she studied it properly, the sunlight gleaming off the polished, metallic finish of his forearm.</p><p>"Yeah!" He lit up suddenly with almost child-like excitement, and here was the Rhys she remembered. He rolled the shirt sleeve of his right arm up further and, to her surprise, shuffled across to where she was sitting. "Atlas tech. Didn't have much available to me at the time, <em>but</em>, I <em>did</em> find a top-of-the-range microprocessor just lying around at the facility, I mean, who leaves <em>those</em> lying around?! And it was kinda not that different from the Hyperion one so I did have a head-start, but, oh man, Fiona, the range of stuff this one can do compared to the last one, and..."</p><p>Fiona leaned forward to get a better look. She knew literally nothing about the sort of technology that went into building a whole limb, but had to admit she was impressed. She looked up at Rhys' face as he very animatedly talked about his accomplishments, pointing out different parts of the arm as he explained about the different components, and couldn't hide a smile. One of the most endearing things about Rhys during their journey to find the vault had been his boundless enthusiasm whenever he found a computer or piece of technology he could hack away at.</p><p>"You're impressed, aren't you? C'mon Fiona, you're impressed," and he grinned at her, the most genuine thing she'd seen from him since the start of this new, strange journey they were being forced along. And god<em>damn</em> if it wasn't contagious as hell and she found herself grinning back as a warmth spread from her chest right into the tips of her fingers.</p><p>Bloody <em>hell</em>. She was supposed to be mad at him!</p><p>Stupid Rhys and his infectious smile and his stupid, wonderful energy and the stupid <em>socks</em> he was probably wearing underneath the stupid corporate boots.</p><p>"I... am impressed!" Fiona tilted her head at him in a gesture of respect. "Seriously, Rhys, that's... that is badass."</p><p>"A compliment? From <em>you?</em>" Rhys held his left hand to his chest in mock shock, prompting Fiona to throw her hat at him. He caught it, laughing, and gave it a long look. "I, uhh, like the new hat. The new, um, well, everything," he gestured at her whole outfit, "it, uhh, it's- it suits you."</p><p>Fiona wasn't sure whether it was the sun that had caused him to go slightly pink as he couldn't quite meet her eyes, or something else, as he unknowingly reverted back to the more awkward Rhys of the past. She felt the warmth again in her chest.</p><p>"Made it all myself," she preened - her time to show off. Alright, it wasn't a new mechanical arm that she'd built from scrap materials, but it <em>had</em> taken her a while to make. And now it was getting all dusty in the desert.</p><p>"That is <em>badass</em>, Fiona."</p><p>She snorted as she took the hat back from him and replaced it on her head. "Well, I'm gonna sleep better tonight with that knowledge. C'mon, better get on with that tyre. That guy's gonna get antsy if we take too long."</p><p>"Yeah..." Rhys glanced behind her to where the mysterious figure stood in the distance, before shuffling back over to the tyre, and Fiona found herself missing the close proximity.</p><p>The other, human arm hadn't escaped her attention. She'd not missed the blue tattoos that underlined his collarbone, but the apparent rest of the tattoo had been hidden underneath his jacket. She traced the shapes with her eyes as he worked, following them down to where the tattoo ended at his wrist.</p><p>With them all having lived together in such close proximity while they'd travelled to find Gortys upgrades in the caravan, it had been inevitable that the odd embarrassing incident or two would happen. Long story short, Fiona had accidentally come into close proximity with Rhys, while she'd fumbled around to try to fix the sudden hot water issue they'd had, as he'd been wearing only the fluffiest towel the caravan had to offer.</p><p>The towel and, hilariously, those god-awful socks.</p><p><em>Anyway</em>, Fiona was pretty convinced she would have seen <em>that</em> tattoo as they'd awkwardly danced around each other, both blushing furiously while Rhys had made as much noise as possible to try to drown out some of the painful embarrassment.</p><p>So, it was new. A statement?</p><p>She wondered how much was still hidden beneath the shirt.</p><p>Fiona furiously quashed <em>those</em> kind of thoughts before her mind could stray too far into thoughts of tracing it all with her finger.</p><p>She tore her gaze away and stared off into the barren distance. This was the guy who had been responsible for her and Sasha's lives turning to hell. The aftermath of the Helios crash had been... difficult, to say the least and, despite the ever-present hope that he'd survived, the anger had steadily grown over the year, as they'd struggled to patch up their lives.</p><p>And yet, so much of that anger had already melted away. He'd been dragged back into her life, layered in black and amber and <em>god</em>, how it suited him, now he'd apparently shed Hyperion and the catalogue cut-out Hyperion look for good. This was all his own. And, he looked good. He looked <em>very</em> good.</p><p>She'd never actually <em>tell</em> him that, of course.</p><p>This Rhys was different to the one she'd known months ago. More confident, for one. More able to hold his own in their bickering, more assured, quick to call her out on her bullshit while she embellished her stories a little. She'd hoped that, if they were to ever meet again, they could just go back to how it had been during their journey to find the vault. Silly, given everything that had gone on a year ago, but Fiona had missed their friendly banter in the last year, in amongst the conflicting feelings.</p><p>But, the Rhys she'd known was still there. It had been a year, and Fiona acknowledged that she'd probably changed in that time, too. Different... but not in a bad way.</p><p>"Alright," Rhys sighed as he set his wrench down, "I'm done."</p><p>"Don't let him know just yet," Fiona nodded towards their captor, who'd apparently been standing guard while Rhys had worked, gun aimed toward the horizon. "I'm tired of talking so much. Nice to just have a few minutes' break."</p><p>"Yeah, I feel that," Rhys chuckled as he shifted to lean his back against the technical. "Who knew you could talk your saliva dry?"</p><p>"Makes a change from drooling it all over my jacket," Fiona smirked at him, prompting a scowl in her direction.</p><p>A few moments of comfortable silence passed as they both stared into the distance, watching some of the desert dust kick up in the breeze. It was oddly peaceful, for Pandora. Apparently they were in a particularly sparsely-populated part of the desert and it was a nice change from the usual constant threat from something, <em>anything</em>, around here.</p><p>Well, other than the strange man who constantly pointed a shotgun in their direction. That was quite tame, for Pandora.</p><p>"We'll be ok after all this. Whatever <em>this</em> is." He gently tapped her ankle with his expensive-looking booted foot and she looked to him to find him smiling gently at her. Why was her mouth suddenly dry?</p><p>"Never doubted it for a second," she countered confidently, also smiling. "I don't know what this guy's game is, but we've survived worse."</p><p>"Yeah." His smile faded and he looked back to the horizon. "There's... still a lot of talking to do. Just- I guess... there's gonna be some... unpleasant stuff. And, well, there's stuff I regret. I just... I hope that <em>we'll</em> be ok, Fiona."</p><p>It was a relief to hear it from him. She gently tapped his ankle back, eyeing up the fashionable boot attached to his foot.</p><p>"A lot of shit went down. I guess some stuff is still gonna hurt. But... there's no reason we can't come out of the other end of this," she said fairly, desperately hoping that last part was true.</p><p>"Was kinda hoping you were gonna say that," and she was rewarded with another gentle smile that was so achingly similar to the one he'd given her at that old Atlas facility so long ago.</p><p>"Yeah. But Rhys, there is something I have to ask, something very important," she said, tone serious, and he turned fully to face her, suddenly wary.</p><p>"... Uhh... A-alright, I can handle this... Hit me."</p><p>"... Do you still have those awful socks on under those boots?"</p><p>Rhys stared at her for a whole beat, wide-eyed, before he let out a loud laugh and all the tension melted out of him.</p><p>"Hey, I know Hyperion was awful, but they did <em>one</em> thing right and that was those socks. The <em>craftmanship</em>, Fiona, the <em>colours-</em>"</p><p>"You still have them, don't you?"</p><p>"I-"</p><p>"You're literally wearing them right now, aren't you?"</p><p>"I am <em>not</em>, as it happens. If there's anything Atlas can do better than Hyperion, apart from literally everything-" and Fiona became alarmed as he pulled his left foot toward him and began unfastening the boot.</p><p>"Oh, Rhys no-"</p><p>"I mean, fashion is very subjective, but <em>these</em>-"</p><p>"Leave the boot on, Rhys. Leave. The boot-"</p><p>"State-of-the-art-"</p><p>"I don't deserve this. The bones of the skags and bandits littering this <em>landscape</em> don't deserve this-"</p><p>"<em>Socks</em>," and he pulled the boot off with a flourish to reveal perhaps the most hideous socks Fiona had ever laid eyes on. To his credit, the amber and black colours <em>did</em> go with the rest of the get-up, but the pattern was so swirly and psychedelic it made her eyes hurt. And, were those tiny glowing <em>mushrooms</em> patterned across the whole foot?</p><p>Fiona suddenly felt lighter than she had done in months. A giggle bubbled its way up her throat.</p><p>She let out a loud noise of protest and dramatically covered her eyes with her hand. "Are you trying to <em>hypnotise</em> people with those things or what?!"</p><p>"Oh, Fiona, your distinct lack of fashion sense is <em>tragic</em> and frankly, disappointing." He narrowed his eyes in pretend disapproval.</p><p>"Oh hey, show that guy! Maybe you can wave your feet in his face and convince him to let us go."</p><p>"He'd be too busy admiring my exquisite taste in foot fashion to even think about- aaaand, he's coming this way."</p><p>"Crap!" Fiona leapt to her feet as the stranger walked back toward their position and felt a weird, sudden desire to hide her face, which was oddly warm. The mysterious man stopped just short of them and stared at Rhys as he hopped awkwardly on one foot, trying to get the boot back on. Fiona had to work to hold back a snort.</p><p>"That's an odd way to change a tyre," the man commented dryly and Fiona smirked across at Rhys as he scowled. "Let's move, we have a lot of work to do."</p><p>"Can you drive?" Rhys asked her quietly as they headed for the vehicle, "I... have sand in my boot."</p><p>"You only have your alarming enthusiasm for socks to blame for that," Fiona said dryly, but she took the driver's seat anyway.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've now mapped out how I want this story to go and have edited the chapter count to reflect this. Hope everyone had as good a Christmas break as possible! GOODBYE, 2020, you will NOT be missed.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rhys' feet <em>hurt</em>.</p>
<p>He wasn't used to so much walking in one go as it was, but being dragged through Pandora's desert wastelands was doing his feet no favours. If he'd known he was going to be kidnapped and marched for miles, he would have chosen boots to wear that weren't new and didn't need breaking in.</p>
<p>"Alright, I can't take it any more. I'm sorry, Fiona," and she looked up from where she was sitting a few feet away from him, warming up by the fire that burned into the darkness, as he began to pull one of the boots off, "but if I don't take these things off my feet now, I'm gonna <em>die</em>-"</p>
<p>"Who knew the worst part of this kidnapping would be having to look at those socks more than once?" Fiona muttered darkly as she grimaced and dramatically tore her gaze from Rhys' direction.</p>
<p>"Oh-my-god, ohmy<em>god, ouch</em>."</p>
<p>"Don't even think of asking me to carry you," Fiona told him as she watched him gingerly place his socked feet on the ground, "you only have yourself to blame for insisting on wearing such crimes against fashion. And please, for the sake of us all, <em>don't</em> take the socks off."</p>
<p>"I'd almost forgotten how warm and caring you are, Fiona."</p>
<p>The campfire crackled and spat embers into the night air. The temperature had dropped significantly, so their strange captor had built a large fire before heading off in search of more dry wood for it. Clearly the guy needed them for <em>something</em>, Rhys thought as he stared into the flames, otherwise he could have just left them in the middle of the desert to die. But... he'd left them alone now? When they could just... bolt away?</p>
<p>Well, <em>bolt</em> was probably the wrong word for it - Rhys wasn't entirely convinced he could even <em>walk</em> at this moment in time. He scanned the dusty horizon anyway, maybe if they could get somewhere where they could hide...?</p>
<p>"Rhys."</p>
<p>"Hmm?" He tore his gaze from a promising-looking pile of rocks far in the distance, to where she was sitting, huddled up close to the fire and its warmth. She had an odd expression on her face as she met his eyes and Rhys suddenly felt somewhat disarmed. A very scrutinising gaze - it was almost like she was trying to see <em>into</em> him.</p>
<p>"Why'd you do it?"</p>
<p>Rhys blinked at her, uncomprehending. "Uhh, I've done a lot of things in my life, Fi. Why did I choose to work for Hyperion? Why did I come to meet you in the desert after everything that went down? Why did I think I could take on <em>Bryan Davies</em> of all people in the ice cream-eating contest back home that time?"</p>
<p>"Back in Old Haven," Fiona said quietly and she looked so oddly pensive, an expression he couldn't say he'd ever seen on her face before. "When we were trapped in the room with the murder-bots and... you went with my plan. When you had another, admittedly better plan - and that's the only time I'll admit that, because let's face it, the person responsible for that plan was the <em>worst</em>, and-"</p>
<p>"Are you rambling? You're rambling," Rhys half-smiled at her because that was normally <em>his</em> territory and the role reversal was kind of sweet. "But, I've already told you why."</p>
<p>"You gave a half-assed answer to that guy before the tyre blew up," she said dryly. "I guess... I'm not really understanding why. Your literal hero handed you a plan on a plate."</p>
<p>Rhys shrugged as he carefully shuffled a little closer to the fire - the air felt a little colder tonight. He leaned back onto his elbows and pointed his feet toward the fire. "You're the last person who needs reminding how awful Jack was. Yeah, I admired him, like, a <em>lot</em>. But, you know what they say - never meet your heroes." He barked out a laugh. "Literally the first thing he tried to do was <em>strangle</em> me to death. Somehow, giving the guy control over the murder-bots seemed like a very bad idea."</p>
<p>"Huh, yeah, that's... fair." Fiona stared into the flames and Rhys saw the reflection of them dancing around in her eyes. Somehow it made them look even nicer. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't."</p>
<p>"Yeah," Rhys continued quietly, "plus, he wanted access to my sub-systems." He hesitated and watched an ember float back down from where it had been spat into the air. "Some... stuff happened. Later on, I mean. We'll get to it at some point, I suppose. Anyway. Makes me even more glad I said no." He shuddered and grimaced. "Dread to think about what could've happened if I'd allowed him access."</p>
<p>"Mmm." Fiona pulled her knees toward her and hugged them. "So," she began slowly and softly and Rhys almost had to strain to hear her, "it was more about... not trusting Jack."</p>
<p>Rhys stared at her unreadable expression that she half-hid in the arms wrapped around her knees, and had a strange feeling he'd misspoken somehow.</p>
<p>"Well... yeah," he blundered on obliviously, feeling rather lost. "I mean, would <em>you</em>? The guy murdered thousands, <em>millions</em> of people, threw executives out of airlocks for <em>fun</em>, I mean-"</p>
<p>He saw something shift behind her eyes as she buried her face further. The penny dropped.</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>.</p>
<p>"But, uhh," he stumbled, sitting up to face her. He hesitated for a split-second, before throwing caution to the wind, and shuffled a couple of feet toward her, closing the gap that felt like a chasm at that point. "It-it wasn't<em> just</em> about that. I mean, I turned down an actual, legitimate plan for your... hasty, terrifying ghost of a plan."</p>
<p>"Aww, Rhys," Fiona sat up and placed a mocking hand on her chest, "that is just the <em>nicest</em> thing anyone has ever said to me."</p>
<p>"Do you always revert to sarcasm when people haven't finished explaining themselves?" Rhys asked her, glaring at her witheringly and pouting in disappointment. "My <em>point</em> is, I went with your 'plan' because... Because, even though I literally had no idea what you were going to do, I-I knew we'd be ok."</p>
<p>She sat up a little straighter and he had a much better view of the reflections in her eyes from here. The warm yellows from the flames complimented the soft green that he'd become so accustomed to all those months ago. Rhys felt a warmth in his face that had nothing to do with the fire nearby.</p>
<p>"Y'know?" Rhys continued, gesturing into the air. "Even though we hadn't even known each other for that long, you'd already dragged our asses out of the fire so many times. I was only even alive at that point 'cause of you. I just... knew you knew what you were doing. So, I trusted you'd get us out of another sticky situation. No reason to believe otherwise, right?"</p>
<p>Fiona stared at him for a long moment, in which Rhys almost didn't dare blink. Then, the smallest smile from her and he silently let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.</p>
<p>"Yeah?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Rhys smiled back warmly. "I mean, put it this way. If I'm ever gonna be trapped in a room full of murder-bots again, I hope it's with you. Uhh, not-not that I hope we're ever trapped in a room with murder-bots again, but if we <em>are</em>, and not just 'cause I'd probably need my ass saving again- look, point is, I trust you. Even... even after everything that went down. I dunno." He sighed as he stared into the flames. "I can't explain it, I just... do."</p>
<p>There was another lengthy silence and Rhys suddenly found he couldn't meet her eyes. It was broken by Fiona softly exhaling through her nose and he looked across to her, wondering how she could possibly have been pissed off by <em>that</em>, but, to his surprise, she was smiling. He felt an odd weight he hadn't noticed before lift from his shoulders.</p>
<p>"... Thanks, Rhys."</p>
<p>"Can I just say, though," he said, laughing suddenly, "when you pulled out that flash grenade and waved it at the drones, I thought we were toast."</p>
<p>Fiona snorted loudly and Rhys loved the sound of it. "Yeah, alright, I <em>was</em> doing some of my finest 'winging it' work at the time."</p>
<p>"How'd you even know there was a <em>ladder</em> there?"</p>
<p>"Saw a button on the floor," she said nonchalantly, shrugging, "after I kinda figured the Atlas brainiacs wouldn't possibly have designed a room that permanently trapped anyone who tried to activate Gortys. I know you corporations can be a bit..."</p>
<p>"Care<em>ful...</em>"</p>
<p>"Evil, murderous, dense, fond of building murder-bots-" Fiona grinned as Rhys rolled his eyes dramatically. "Anyway. Kicked the button after I <em>very</em> intelligently stunned the bots so they wouldn't know what we were doing, we survived - so, great plan!"</p>
<p>"You got me, too," Rhys said dryly, "I was seeing stars for <em>minutes</em>."</p>
<p>"You're a grown man, Rhys, it's your own responsibility to not look directly at the explosion."</p>
<p>"I'll remember that for the next time we're trapped in a room with murder-bots," Rhys grumbled, before his face broke into a grin. "We did wing it pretty well though, huh?"</p>
<p>"'We'?" Fiona smirked at him. "If I'm remembering right, <em>I</em> was the one doing all the winging. You... were also there."</p>
<p>"I <em>resent</em> that, Fiona. I'd be perfectly capable of winging it even now. When me and Vaughn first landed on Pandora, I did so much winging that I could've taken flight."</p>
<p>"Right," Fiona snorted again, clearly skeptical. "Well, if that's the case then, I officially nominate you to wing it out of this situation. As fun as being kidnapped and held at gunpoint is, it's kinda messed up my plans for the next few weeks."</p>
<p>"Umm, sure!" Rhys' eyes went very round as a result of something that definitely wasn't panic and sudden terror. "Yeah. Awesome. I... I can <em>absolutely</em> do that. Uh-huh. Just you <em>wait</em>."</p>
<p>"I'm waiting."</p>
<p>"Wh- at least <em>give me a minute here</em>-"</p>
<p>"The whole point of 'winging it' is that you make it up as you go."</p>
<p>"Alright, fine, the next time we're in mortal peril, I'll get us out of it. And!" Rhys exclaimed, sitting up and pointing at her, "you absolutely, one hundred percent, <em>have</em>to go with me on whatever plan I come up with."</p>
<p>Fiona reached out and batted the offending finger away, prompting Rhys to very maturely stick his middle finger up at her.</p>
<p>"Unless I think the plan is completely stupid," she said matter-of-factly.</p>
<p>Rhys opened his mouth comically before snapping it shut and narrowing his eyes at her. "Uhh, no. Nope. That's not part of the deal."</p>
<p>"Rhys. If you... I don't know, decide that we just have to take off into the middle of the desert with some ridiculous idea that we might be able to outrun a guy with a <em>gun-</em>"</p>
<p>Rhys had the good grace to look offended. "I wouldn't do- yeah, alright, that's exactly something I might do."</p>
<p>"No water, no supplies, no shelter, no way to contact anyone-"</p>
<p>"Alright, alright, I <em>get</em> it. You've had a lot more practise at it than I have." He turned toward her fully and stared at her. She stared right back, the corners of her mouth twitching. "But you have to promise me, Fiona, that you'll stick with me on whatever genius plan I come up with. You promise?"</p>
<p>"..."</p>
<p>Rhys pouted, half-hoping she'd find it adorable and cave in. He held his metal arm out to her and extended his pinky finger, raising an eyebrow as he did. Fiona blinked at it a couple of times, before pretending to sigh dramatically. She shuffled slightly closer and wrapped his pinky finger with her own. Rhys beamed at her.</p>
<p>"I just got us both killed, didn't I?" Fiona said dryly, though she was smiling.</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's the most likely outcome, here."</p>
<p>Fiona looked up suddenly, then cast her eyes around the vast Pandoran desert, narrowing her eyes as though searching for something. She then shuffled even closer to Rhys until their legs were almost touching. He felt the warmth radiating from hers and a pleasant jolt shot down his spine.</p>
<p>"Alright, so," Fiona whispered conspiratorially and comically loudly, "this guy clearly has an agenda. Until we know what that is, I think we'll be ok."</p>
<p>"... Ok?" Rhys whispered back, just as loudly. "And... why are we whispering? The guy's not even here."</p>
<p>"He could have ears everywhere, Rhys," Fiona whispered dramatically and it was Rhys' turn to snort. "Oh, shut <em>up</em>, let's just assume he does 'cause it's safer for us that way. Point is, we have a bit of time to think up some good winging-it scenarios. So, get thinking, hotshot."</p>
<p>"I'll do that," Rhys deliberately nodded at her in an exaggerated manner, feeling as though he was in some sort of bizarre stage play, "but, since we're not winging it and escaping right now, I'm gonna get some sleep."</p>
<p>"Yes, good," Fiona whispered excitedly, "sleep will help fuel the two brain cells you have."</p>
<p>"Did I ever tell you exactly how <em>much</em> I missed you? <em>So much</em>, Fiona. The daily insults used to be the best part of my day."</p>
<p>He turned to lay on his side facing the fire, hoping his feet would at least feel a little better in the morning. The hard-packed sand offered little in the way of comfort and Rhys began to fantasize about the feather bed he was going to treat himself to once this ordeal came to an end. So many feathers. King-sized and just absolutely stuffed to the brim with feathers. He could put it on the expenses. What use was a CEO if he didn't sleep well at night?</p>
<p>"Just so you know," Fiona told him quietly, "if you start snoring, I'll pour sand onto your face."</p>
<p>Rhys twisted onto his back so he could look up and send her an unamused glare, and the top of his head brushed against her thigh.</p>
<p>It was... alarmingly comfortable. Pleasantly warm. Rhys felt his face grow warmer.</p>
<p>Fiona smirked down at him. "Actually, maybe this will help..."</p>
<p>She took her hat off and gently placed it over Rhys' face.</p>
<p>"Oh, <em>much</em> better," he heard her say, laughing, as his vision suddenly went dark, "now I don't have to put up with your snoring <em>or</em> your face."</p>
<p>Rhys made a noise that definitely got across just how offended he was right now, but then, actually, the darkness provided by Fiona's hat might actually help, he begrudgingly admitted to himself. He'd found it difficult to sleep when the night skies were so littered with stars and Elpis itself was a sizeable source of light.</p>
<p>And... the hat smelled of shampoo. <em>Her</em> shampoo.</p>
<p>They'd been stuck in the desert for over two days, now.</p>
<p>How the <em>hell</em> did it smell so... like that?</p>
<p>Rhys was suddenly and overwhelmingly glad his face was obscured because he was pretty sure local bandits would be attracted to the glowing redness that his face was definitely throwing out right now. He placed a possessive hand on top of the hat in case Fiona tried to take it away because nope, that really wouldn't be good at <em>all</em>.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm gonna borrow this," he mumbled through the hat and sure, that was definitely the octave his voice normally spoke in, "works both ways, 'cause now I don't have to look at you, either."</p>
<p>"A win-win situation for us both, then."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Overall this was, inexplicably, a challenging chapter to write, despite how much fun I had writing Rhys' hopeless escape attempt. Never change, Rhys.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fiona had heard tales of the Eridium Blight. That it had always consisted of a tumultuous landscape even before Hyperion had come in and razed it all, scarring the planet permanently. They were too far from the actual site of the scar to see any of the purple eridium remnants layered throughout the earth, but the ground was cracked with lava even this far away. In a strange way, she thought, it could almost be considered beautiful, if only because it was so different from the rest of Pandora's wasteland deserts.</p>
<p>Then Rhys decided to ruin it by zig-zagging across it.</p>
<p>Fiona stopped dead in her tracks - she hadn't thought that he'd <em>actually</em> try running, but here they were. She closed her mouth that had opened in shock when he'd taken off running, and watched in exasperation as he swerved left and right, shouting out the entire time. His arms were flailing in the air and she sighed as she realised that he was only making himself an even <em>bigger</em> target by doing so. Fiona brought a hand to her face and closed her eyes, but couldn't stop a soft laugh escaping breathily through her nose as her lips curved upwards.</p>
<p>"Oh, Rhys..."</p>
<p>She heard the heavy footsteps of the stranger stop beside her and she looked up as he watched Rhys flail around ahead. Despite the mask, she sensed the quizzical expression and could have sworn he was raising an eyebrow under there.</p>
<p>"He says it makes him harder to hit," Fiona offered by way of explanation, before smirking, "but I'm starting to think that this is just how Rhys runs. Pretty sure he did some similar 'avoidance tactics' when we were ambushed by bandits once."</p>
<p>"That seems about right," the stranger commented dryly, "based on my limited interactions with him."</p>
<p>"Yeeeah, about five minutes talking to him is all it takes to learn that this... <em>is </em>him," Fiona said just as dryly, but she smiled fondly at the sight without even realising she was doing it.</p>
<p>"We should catch up before he goes too far," the stranger said as he started walking in Rhys' direction. Fiona chuckled as she fell into step beside him.</p>
<p>"Ehh, he'll run out of steam in a minute or so. Not exactly famous for his stamina."</p>
<p>They walked in silence for a few moments, watching Rhys continuing to zig-zag, though he'd slowed his pace somewhat. Fiona smiled, thinking back to their journey across Pandora all those months ago, searching for pieces of Gortys. He'd been hilariously and somewhat alarmingly unfit back then, too. <em>Some things don't change</em>.</p>
<p>"So," the stranger began quietly, "you don't hate him, even after everything that apparently happened?"</p>
<p>Fiona's breath caught in her throat, disarmed. "What does that have to do with anything?"</p>
<p>"It has everything to do with it."</p>
<p>"I don't really see how it's relevant to the story of what happened over a year ago, now," Fiona said shortly, somewhat irritated.</p>
<p>"It's relevant because I'm asking," he said and Fiona could hear that he was growing irritated, too, "and considering I'm the one with the gun, I'm allowed to ask whatever I'd like."</p>
<p>She'd somehow almost managed to forget about that. "... Right."</p>
<p>Ahead, Rhys slowed and even though he was facing away from them, they could both tell he was struggling. Fiona smirked as she watched him come to a complete stop and double over, hands on his knees, sucking in lungfuls of air.</p>
<p>He straightened and turned to face them after a few seconds of recovery. The glare he aimed at Fiona was almost adorable.</p>
<p>"You aren't <em>coming</em>?!" Rhys shouted breathlessly, outraged.</p>
<p>"Terrible plan, Rhys," Fiona shouted back, grinning, "we already talked about this!"</p>
<p>"I'm <em>winging it</em>! I'm doing the <em>thing</em>!" Rhys gestured wildly, eyes wide. Some of his hair had fallen into his eyes - their captor hadn't considered that hair gel was an essential supply, to Rhys' disappointment, and Rhys had been forced to let it be free and fluffy, at mercy to the winds of Pandora. He ran his hand backwards through it in breathless irritation, trying to get it to stay in place.</p>
<p>"You're literally running, and you're barely even doing that - that isn't 'winging it'!"</p>
<p>"You <em>pinky-promised</em>!" Rhys' voice broke as his pitch reached its upper limit, as he visibly huffed at Fiona.</p>
<p>"Rhys, just, wait there and catch your breath before you keel over," Fiona half-shouted as the pair approached him.</p>
<p>"What?! No!" Rhys' eyes went even wider as he gestured at the stranger's shotgun. "He's gonna shoot me now, isn't he?! He'll-he'll shoot my legs! So I can't run! I can still talk with no legs!"</p>
<p>"Does he realise he's giving me ideas?" The stranger questioned, causing Fiona to snort.</p>
<p>"Rhys!" She called to him, though he hadn't looked away at any point and still glowered at her. "He won't shoot you. Right?" She looked pointedly at the stranger. <em>Just play along</em>.</p>
<p>The stranger looked down at his gun, then lowered it and, very slowly, shook his head.</p>
<p>"I don't believe you!" Rhys yelled back, looking as though he was caught between fight-or-flight.</p>
<p>The stranger took one step forward.</p>
<p>Rhys shrieked and immediately began running away again, re-adopting his zig-zag pattern, though at a much slower pace than before.</p>
<p>"As you were saying," the stranger prompted her as they walked again.</p>
<p>Fiona sighed, resigned. "You're right. I don't hate him. ... I hate what he <em>did</em>. You don't know the whole story yet, but, to put it mildly, shit went down. Rhys..." Fiona watched him as he struggled ahead and a weird, sad ache settled in her stomach, "he was responsible for some bad stuff happening. He'll tell that part soon, I'm sure, he knows what happened far better than I do. And I know he never meant to, but he put us all in danger. Sasha, Gortys. Me. It was dangerous enough without him hiding the fact he had Handsome Jack in his head."</p>
<p>She paused for a moment, chewing her lip. She <em>should</em> have hated him. But, even when they'd been dragged back into each others' lives, had yelled at each other in the desert that first day... Fiona had been angry, her walled-in feelings of anger that had evolved into rage over the last year finally spilling over. However, even to her own surprise, she'd never actually hated him for it.</p>
<p>"It's complicated," she admitted quietly, "and I can't even explain why myself. I can't speak for him, but... yeah."</p>
<p>"Mmm," the stranger said, apparently satisfied enough with that answer. "Rhys is an open book. It's obvious he doesn't hate you, despite your... heated reunion."</p>
<p>"Well that's... good," Fiona faltered, somewhat relieved despite already knowing it. Rhys had been one of the most genuine, open people she'd ever met and it was one of the things she really liked about him. She was so used to lying, deceiving others and being deceived herself, so it had been quite refreshing when Rhys and Vaughn had crashed into her life suddenly. "I <em>still</em> don't see the point of this line of questioning, though."</p>
<p>"Every story has multiple facets. A whole story isn't told without considering all the aspects. Reasons, motivations." There was a new intensity in his tone that made the hairs on Fiona's neck stand up. "All of it is important to understand the whole story. Stories can change, depending on how you see each other now. If you hated each other, it would show in your stories. You could deliberately change things, paint others in a bad light that wouldn't accurately reflect what happened." The stranger's footsteps sounded heavy as he trudged them through the Blight.</p>
<p>"Alright, I'll give you that. Whatever we have going on now, though," and Fiona still wasn't sure what that was - friendship? An alliance, until they got themselves out of this situation? She felt empty at the thought. What was going to happen once they finished their story? "Maybe it doesn't even matter. Maybe it's just that we're both very good at recalling the past, and adult enough to tell our sides in the most fair way possible."</p>
<p>"Maybe," the stranger said after a brief pause, clearly skeptical, "though you both seem fond of... embellishing some parts. As long as I'm getting the whole story."</p>
<p>"You will," Fiona assured him.</p>
<p>Then the meteor shower hit.</p>
<p>Fiona, freshly wrapped-up in more duct tape, prepared her best glare as Rhys began to stir, having been unceremoniously knocked out by the stranger after they took shelter. It must have been effective, as Rhys blinked a few times, then shrank away from her, grimacing.</p>
<p>"Hey, Rhys!" Fiona said brightly and very, very sarcastically from where she was leaning against a broken railing that belonged to a wrecked Hyperion ship. Rhys groaned and closed his eyes. "How ya doing? Thanks, by the way. This is <em>entirely</em> on you."</p>
<p>"Wh- oh, right, yeah, I... can't move." He looked up at her, wearing his best apology face, which caused her to scoff. "Umm, s-sorry about that. Wait, what did <em>you</em> do? You didn't even run."</p>
<p>"Exactly," Fiona said darkly, now aiming a glare at their captor, who stood nearby.</p>
<p>"Well, maybe if you <em>had</em>," Rhys continued as he sent his own glare up to Fiona, "we wouldn't be here."</p>
<p>"You're kidding, right?" Fiona stared incredulously at him. "We'd be in exactly the same situation as we are now, except I'd <em>also</em> have a bloody nose."</p>
<p>"I was only going slowly because you weren't following!" Rhys half-snapped, clearly upset she hadn't gone along with his mad plan, whatever <em>that</em> had been. "If you had, we'd be miles into the desert by now!"</p>
<p>"With no supplies or way to contact anyone, or anything," Fiona bit out, exasperated, "which we already <em>talked about</em>. If you believed in your 'plan' so much, why didn't you just go for it? Run at full speed into the distance and get away? I don't see how you can be angry at <em>me</em> for that."</p>
<p>"What, and just leave you behind?" Rhys shouted loudly, voice echoing through the wreckage of the ship.</p>
<p>Fiona fell silent, mouth slightly open in surprise. Rhys went slightly pink and broke eye contact, staring up at the sky and broken pieces of Hyperion space ship.</p>
<p>"Just... thought we were a team," Rhys mumbled miserably. "Besides, he could have-have <em>shot</em> you, or something, if I'd just gone like that."</p>
<p>"Well, now he can shoot us both," Fiona said, but she was smiling gently. "But... I appreciate it, Rhys. Nice to know I've still got someone looking out for me."</p>
<p>"Well, yeah," Rhys said, looking at her as though he couldn't believe she didn't think that was obvious. "I mean, I- you're- we're friends. ... Right?"</p>
<p>"Right," Fiona said warmly, feeling a familiar warmth spread through her chest as Rhys smiled back at her. "And, we <em>are</em> a team. I'd just... rather be a team that doesn't die of dehydration in the middle of Pandora."</p>
<p>Rhys laughed dryly. "Yeah, alright, that's-that's fair. I officially hand winging-it duties back over to you."</p>
<p>"A wise decision."</p>
<p>"As charming as all this flirting is," the stranger interrupted, deadpan, which caused both of them to turn a rather violent shade of red, both sputtering and suddenly looking anywhere but each other, "I need to know what happened next before this rock planet inevitably crumbles to dust."</p>
<p>"Right, yeah, that-"</p>
<p>"Uh-huh, mmm-hmm, so-"</p>
<p>"We needed a solid plan, like an actual <em>plan</em>, because we couldn't just fling ourselves up to Helios and just hope that we'd be ok."</p>
<p>"Yeah, Hyperion was a whole new level of terrifying, even if I <em>had</em> worked there before. So, naturally, it was <em>me</em> that came up with our super genius plan to get up there and get the Gortys beacon-"</p>
<p>"Embellishing already, Rhys?"</p>
<p>"Like <em>you</em> haven't done enough embellishing enough for the both of us. <em>Anyway</em>, it started like all good plans start. With breakfast. Luckily, there was a taco place nearby..."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was inevitable, Rhys thought as he sat, miserable, staring off at nothing in particular, that once they reached this, the most painful part of the story, the hurt and anger would resurface. Both he and Fiona had been forced into... whatever the hell this actually was, held at gunpoint by a guy who wanted a <em>story</em> of all things. And, strangely, Rhys hadn't hated it.</p>
<p>He'd spent the better part of a year thinking Fiona and the others had deserted him and condemned him to die on Helios. Rhys had had bigger priorities in the immediate aftermath of the station crash, namely working on trying not to die while stranded on Pandora minus one arm and his eye. But, in the quieter times spent resting so he could heal, he'd thought about those last moments before they'd been separated, how Fiona had promised she wouldn't leave him behind, then had done just that.</p>
<p>It had hurt.</p>
<p>So, he'd been quite conflicted when he received a message from her on an old ECHO device he'd found and fixed up at the facility, asking to meet up. Relieved? Yes. He'd seen her leave on the caravan, or so he'd thought, so knew she'd survived, at least. There was anger, that she'd just taken the caravan and gone, not looking back, not trying to find him or even contact him. But mostly, he was still hurt, the wound re-opening when he'd seen her name on the screen. After everything they'd been through when they'd been travelling Pandora looking for Gortys pieces and she'd just... gone. Just like that.</p>
<p>However, once they'd had their screaming match after the stranger had dragged them back into each others' lives, got the pent up hurt and anger out into the open, they'd started to... re-connect? Rhys internally scoffed at the businesslike term that his mind had given him. Well, whatever it was. He'd found himself enjoying her company again. They'd worked together to tell their story, had plotted outlandish escape attempts in the middle of the night while their captor was out of earshot. They'd laughed, even. It had almost been like old times back in the caravan, if not slightly strained still due to their present circumstances.</p>
<p>It had felt so natural, Rhys had almost forgotten what it felt like to be so completely at ease in the company of someone else. He'd had hope, over the last couple of days, that maybe something could be salvaged from all of this.</p>
<p>But now... he wasn't so sure. Fiona had gone quiet. <em>Very</em> quiet. Rhys didn't dare even try to glance in her direction. He sensed it would be like trying to poke an angry rakk hive with a stick.</p>
<p>Their captor was out of earshot some metres away, talking to someone on an ECHO-comm - <em>Rhys' </em>ECHO-comm. He must have snatched it from Rhys after knocking him out and apparently kept it very well-hidden.</p>
<p>"He's had that the <em>whole time</em>?" Rhys muttered, pissed off. If he'd known, he could have tried to take it while the stranger slept. Though, now Rhys thought about it, he'd never actually <em>seen</em> the guy sleep.</p>
<p>Fiona remained silent. Rhys chewed his bottom lip slightly, anxious.</p>
<p>"Alright," he ventured cautiously, "I don't know who he's talking to, but this can't be good for us. We, uhh, or I-I, I mean, no pressure on you, but one or both of us should probably come up with a plan, or, something. 'Cause, uhh, we-we could actually die now."</p>
<p>He still couldn't look at her. Rhys liked to think he had an innate ability to sense how people were feeling, but he didn't even need that to know he was dealing with a ticking bomb.</p>
<p>"S-so, I'll get on with thinking something up. But, if you have any ideas, I'd be open to them. Really open. Like, we'd just do that, immediately."</p>
<p>She remained unresponsive.</p>
<p>"Or, we could keep doing the silence thing. Yeah. Cool. That works," Rhys said shortly, still staring out at where the stranger was pacing while talking on the ECHO-comm, "so, uhh, good luck with all the dying we're about to do."</p>
<p><em>Still</em> nothing. The anxiety in the pit of Rhys' stomach clawed its way toward his throat as he cast his eyes around, looking for something, <em>anything</em>, that might help. And... he found nothing. It didn't help that they were both still neatly wrapped in duct tape. Rhys could barely even move.</p>
<p>Shit. This was bad.</p>
<p>"Look, can we <em>please</em> just-"</p>
<p>"Shut <em>up</em>, Rhys."</p>
<p>"Oh, she <em>can</em> speak!" Rhys said loudly and sarcastically as he twisted to face her, finally pissed off enough to overcome the anxiety about her response. "Fiona, whatever the hell <em>this</em> is, can't it wait? We have bigger things to worry about right now."</p>
<p>"He's not going to kill us. He's been looking for Gortys pieces while we've been here, which means he still needs them, and us." Fiona finally looked at him and Rhys now had a measure of exactly how quietly angry she was.</p>
<p>His own anger was beginning to grow, inexplicably. "Well, <em>you</em> seem to know something I don't. Been chumming up with your friend over there, yeah? Did he tell you that? How the hell could you possibly know the intentions of someone who's been holding us at <em>gunpoint</em> this whole time?"</p>
<p>Something suddenly occured to Rhys and his eyes widened as pieces began to click together in his mind. "Oh my god. Ohh<em>hhh</em>. You're in cahoots. Oh my god, it makes so much sense now. You're conning me. This is a con!"</p>
<p>Fiona's mouth had somewhat comically fallen half-open as she stared at him, her eyes burning. It would have been funny, if Rhys wasn't so pissed off at this moment in time.</p>
<p>"What the <em>fuck</em> are you talking about, Rhys?"</p>
<p>"This! This whole, <em>thing</em>!" Rhys would have been gesturing wildly around if he wasn't so wrapped up in duct tape, instead, he jerked in agitation where he was sitting. "You and that guy, you-you <em>lured </em>me here, pretending this was some hostage thing, so... so you could- oh my <em>god</em>, the vault." Rhys exhaled sharply in realisation as he narrowed his eyes in accusation at Fiona. "You're after the vault. Gortys is still imprinted to us - you know that and he knows that, you <em>need</em> me for this and that's why you got me here."</p>
<p>Fiona, apparently lost for words, closed her mouth and simply looked at him. She wasn't frowning, or glaring, she just... looked. But there was a burning intensity in her eyes and he'd never seen it before. Not when she'd been yelling at him days ago when they were reunited. Not when they'd stood in the Atlas facility, surrounded by drones that were preparing to kill them, their lives in imminent danger. Despite Rhys thinking he was onto something, he suddenly felt disarmed.</p>
<p>"I don't even know what to say to that," Fiona began quietly, and dangerously. "I'm struggling to pinpoint the most ridiculous part of the shit that just came out of your mouth. That I'd team up with some masked stranger to force you to open a vault, despite you <em>willingly </em>trying to open that very same vault last year? When I could have, oh, I don't know, just <em>asked</em> you? Or that I'd con <em>you</em>, of all people? Or that I'd <em>want </em>to be stuck with you for days, relieving everything that resulted in my life going to <em>shit</em>?" Her voice had risen considerably by the end and she spat out the final word with a venom he hadn't heard before.</p>
<p>Ouch.</p>
<p>"Like I <em>wanted</em> to be reminded about everything that happened, like I <em>wanted</em> to hear what you had to say about what went down on Helios like it would fix <em>anything</em>," Fiona continued, snarling, and Rhys swallowed the apology he'd been about to cough out. "I don't even know why I came to meet you, this whole thing was your fault-"</p>
<p>"Woah, woah, woah, how the hell is this <em>my</em> fault?" Rhys stared incredulously at her as she glared at him.</p>
<p>"You're seriously asking me that?! Like you just forgot that you're the one who delivered us all to Hyperion's doorstep, knowing you had its ruthless, megalomaniac leader in your <em>head</em>? Putting us all in danger and nearly getting us killed?!"</p>
<p>"Like I explained earlier," Rhys said icily, teeth gritted, "I didn't have a <em>choice</em>-"</p>
<p>"Don't give me that bullshit-"</p>
<p>"Oh my god, would you let me <em>speak</em>? You think I wanted that to happen? I already told you it was beyond my control, Jack uploaded himself, I literally couldn't do <em>anything</em> to stop it!"</p>
<p>"You could have just grabbed the Gortys beacon and left," Fiona retorted heatedly, "instead, you decided to tour his office and sit in his chair dreaming about all the destruction you'd go on to cause as its CEO, when you could have just got the hell out of there in two minutes flat and we wouldn't have had an entire <em>space station</em> trying to kill us!"</p>
<p>"And where would that have left us?" Rhys was shouting now. "Alright, so we would have come back to Pandora with the beacon, you really think Vallory would have let us just walk away into the sunset once the vault was opened? That's not even considering the problem of still having <em>Handsome Jack</em> in my head-"</p>
<p>"Oh, so you're <em>glad</em> he was let loose into the system?"</p>
<p>"Did I <em>say</em> that?!" Rhys rounded on her, clenching his fists to stop himself from shaking in anger. "Alright, fine! What would <em>you</em> have done in that situation, Fiona? Huh? Tell me what you would have done-"</p>
<p>"You know I can't answer that," Fiona snapped, equally as furiously, "I've never been in that situation-"</p>
<p>"Then why are you dragging me through the fire for it?!"</p>
<p>"Because you could have <em>said something</em>, Rhys!" Fiona's voice echoed throughout the Hyperion ship they were still sheltered in. "We were together for <em>months</em> after you plugged that thing into your head, you had weeks to tell us what was going on before we went to Helios and you said nothing!"</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Rhys had to concede she had a point and he deflated suddenly, weary. "And how would that have gone? 'Oh, hey guys, remember that guy that made your lives hell? Well, he's right here!' You're telling me you wouldn't have just-just thrown me out of the caravan at full speed?"</p>
<p>"We would have listened," Fiona said much more quietly, her voice full of fury.</p>
<p>"Experience tells me otherwise," Rhys said harshly.</p>
<p>"Well, then, you clearly don't know me as well as you think you do," Fiona bit back just as harshly.</p>
<p>Rhys didn't have a response to that. He tore his gaze away from her and moodily stared out toward where the stranger was still having an animated conversation with the unknown person on the other end of the line.</p>
<p>Was this it, then? The hope he'd had that they could somehow patch things up was rapidly fading. Rhys hadn't known Fiona for a very long time, only a few months, but he'd never seen such a heated, rooted anger from her before. Hell, he'd never seen it from <em>anyone</em>. Maybe the fracture was too big.</p>
<p>Rhys couldn't stand the thought of it ending like this. His stomach churned uncomfortably at the prospect.</p>
<p>"Look," he began quietly, keeping his gaze ahead, "I was scared, ok?" Fiona remained silent, so he took that as a sign to continue. "At first, it was 'cause I didn't know what Jack was capable of. And I know how much he was hated here on Pandora. Couldn't help but feel that telling people would mean a death sentence." He sighed heavily, the next words sticking in his throat. "But, after a while, it just got harder to say anything because... because I knew you'd be pissed. I thought it'd mean the end of everything."</p>
<p>The words hung in the air as Rhys lamented his inability to explain what he meant.</p>
<p>"I, just-" Another sigh as he tried to make his thoughts coherent. "That bizarre, terrifying journey we went on... that was the most fun I've ever had. And so much of it was 'cause of you guys. Sasha and-and you. After we got over that initial, uhh, dislike of each other. It was refreshing to be around people who weren't corporate back-stabbers, who were... real. Genuine. Despite the whole... con artist thing. It just felt like we had something good, you know? We had each others' backs, we had fun. ... I haven't laughed that much since before I left to work for Hyperion." Rhys slumped against the railing he was leaning against. "I knew everything would change and I didn't want to lose that."</p>
<p>There was a heavy silence. Rhys let the misery wash over him as he contemplated just admitting defeat. Too much had happened, all the old, painful wounds reopened.</p>
<p>"I get it, Rhys."</p>
<p>Rhys' breath caught in his throat - he hadn't expected a response. He twisted to look at her and found she looked as miserable as he felt. And... weary. Exhausted.</p>
<p>"I feel the same way about that journey," Fiona continued softly. "Everything had always been a struggle up until then. It was always about survival. It was nice, honestly, to have you - and Vaughn - people that I could trust. And have fun with. Friends, real friendships that weren't forged for the sake of a con. And, for the first time, I could just... relax, knowing I wasn't alone in trying to find a way to survive, or plan our next move. Hell, even me and Sasha finally got to just enjoy ourselves and just talk about silly stuff. We've always been so focused on where our next meal was coming from that we never had the chance."</p>
<p>It felt like a gut punch. Rhys had known that life hadn't been easy for Fiona and Sasha, but to hear it like this, so honest and raw... He felt strangely small all of a sudden.</p>
<p>"But... it doesn't <em>change</em> anything, Rhys. We trusted you. And you went and did what you did, and for what? You put our lives at risk. Knowing that we were gonna be more at risk than we could have known."</p>
<p>She didn't say it, but the word hung heavily in Rhys' mind without her having to at all. <em>Selfish</em>.</p>
<p>"Like you've never made a mistake," he said but it was empty.</p>
<p>"Not one that big. I'd rather get shot than knowingly put my sister in danger."</p>
<p>That stung. And Rhys knew why that in particular hurt so much. It had taken a crazy adventure throughout the Atlas facilities of Pandora, and another strange few days being marched through its wastelands, for Rhys to finally realise he felt exactly the same way.</p>
<p>About Fiona.</p>
<p>And he'd gone and done it anyway.</p>
<p>Well, fuck. No wonder she was pissed.</p>
<p>"So, that's it then," he said miserably, if only to break the suffocating silence. "We just... what, go our separate ways and carry on feeling like shit?"</p>
<p>Fiona just looked at him for a few moments. "I don't know," she finally said, honestly.</p>
<p>"People have worked through big stuff before," he said desperately as a lead weight settled in his gut.</p>
<p>"People haven't been through what we have. Maybe it's... <em>too</em> big." She leaned back against the railing, exhaling visibly, staring at the sky.</p>
<p>Faint footsteps reached Rhys' ears and he turned to see the stranger was heading back toward them, having apparently finished his call. One way or another, everything was about to come to some sort of conclusion.</p>
<p>"Fiona-"</p>
<p>"Look, just, go along with whatever happens now. Try not to die. That's our priority right now." Fiona fixed him with a firm stare. Straight back to business. Rhys felt the last of his hope depart him.</p>
<p>He couldn't shake the feeling that, if they did come out of this whole thing alive, she was going to bolt the second she was given the opportunity. That was it, then. As the stranger reached them, Rhys dully wondered what was coming next.</p>
<p>Well, there was one small consolation. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly make him feel any worse than he already felt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ooh, dear. Well, it was inevitable that all those pent-up feelings were going to come bursting out at some point, right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A much longer chapter that couldn't really be split down. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Coffee. <em>Coffee</em>. Hwaaaargh-"</p>
<p>"Still a coffee fiend, huh," Vaughn chuckled at the sight of his best friend devouring the hot coffee as though it was the last cup in the galaxy, "good to know some things don't change."</p>
<p>"Tell me <em>you</em> wouldn't inhale this after spending days in the desert drinking body-temperature water," Rhys retorted lightly, but <em>god</em> the coffee tasted good. Some of the tension he'd been carrying over the last few days melted away as he gratefully gulped it down.</p>
<p>"Rhys, I <em>live</em> in the desert," Vaughn said dryly, the corners of his mouth turning up.</p>
<p>"... Alright, but you live in the desert surrounded by an endless supply of coffee. Hell, I'm tempted to live here myself!"</p>
<p>"I think the 'endless' part of that is about to be tested by you," Vaughn said, amused, as he watched Rhys drain the cup.</p>
<p>"Yeah..." Rhys eyed his cup then grinned sheepishly at Vaughn, "could I, uhh, maybe-"</p>
<p>"Machine's behind you."</p>
<p>Rhys sprang up from the tattered sofa the pair were occupying and heard Vaughn laugh as he went to make another cup of coffee. The two were relaxing in what looked like a former office of Helios, an office that had seen better days. An entire section of wall had broken off at some point during the fall from orbit, exposing it to the Pandoran desert. The sun had set in the last half hour and the sky was not yet completely dark, though stars were visible and Elpis glowed gently in the dying light.</p>
<p>"Leave some for Janey and Athena," he heard Vaughn call from the sofa, "they're about half a day away now. Have a feeling Athena's gonna want to fuel up herself when they get here."</p>
<p>"Ehh, I'll get them a coffee machine for a wedding present," Rhys said as he carefully walked back to the sofa, cradling the hot cup. "Athena seems to like the Atlas stuff in particular, I can hook her up to her own endless supply."</p>
<p>"Janey will be thrilled."</p>
<p>Rhys sank into the sofa cushions and propped his feet on the table Vaughn had dragged over earlier, sighing deeply in contentment. This was the most relaxed he'd felt in days, months, even, which was ironic considering they were gearing up to fight a vault monster in a day or so. Finding Vaughn, not only alive, but doing so well? It had been a huge relief. Though Rhys had known Vaughn had been with Cassius, the aftermath of the Helios crash had been so devastating that Rhys couldn't have said for sure that Vaughn was ok.</p>
<p>"Vaughn, this, all of this, I mean," Rhys looked over at him, open and honest, "what you've done here, it's-it's amazing."</p>
<p>"Thanks man," Vaughn said quietly, smiling gently at Rhys before he turned to stare at the desert. "I had a lot of help. Cassius, for one. And some of the more... lucid survivors. Doctors, engineers. It was a team effort."</p>
<p>"Mmm," Rhys agreed, "but someone had to step up. Take charge, organise everything." Vaughn had changed the most, Rhys thought, but in a good way. He seemed to thrive here, had done since they'd landed on Pandora, once he'd got past his fear of being killed at every turn, anyway. Vaughn was a talented accountant, but Rhys couldn't help but think this life suited Vaughn better. Sure, Hyperion had provided them with everything they'd ever needed or wanted, all of the comforts one could want, but it had come at a cost.</p>
<p>They were no longer chained to Hyperion. And Vaughn had taken freedom and run with it.</p>
<p>"I'd had some time to get used to being here," Vaughn said modestly, "but... yeah. I'm glad I was in a position where I could help. Some of the survivors were completely lost and wouldn't have had a clue how to survive here." He chuckled. "A bit like us when we landed here, huh?"</p>
<p>Rhys laughed loudly and it echoed through the room. "Yeah, we should have died, like, twenty times by now. More."</p>
<p>"Lucky we had Sasha and Fiona, well... you know, <em>after</em> they decided not to kill us," Vaughn smiled fondly at the desert as Rhys' breath hitched in his throat.</p>
<p>"Wh- yeah, uhh, yeah," Rhys fumbled as he stared down at his coffee cup, "yeah, they, uhh, definitely helped us... not die."</p>
<p>"... Yeah."</p>
<p>There was a pause, in which Rhys very determinedly focused on drinking his coffee and tried to ignore the sly side-eye that Vaughn was aiming in his direction. He heard Vaughn exhale a soft laugh and out of the corner of his eye, saw him gently shake his head as he looked back out at the desert.</p>
<p>Phew.</p>
<p>"So, what's going on with you and Fiona?"</p>
<p>Rhys began to cough violently as he inhaled some coffee, caught off guard. Helpfully, Vaughn leaned across and slapped him sharply on the back and, despite the burning tears now in his eyes, Rhys didn't miss the knowing smile on his best friend's face.</p>
<p>"Wh-<em>Vaughn</em>- nothing-"</p>
<p>"Oh come on, Rhys, I know you better than that." Vaughn sat back and crossed his arms, fixing Rhys with a firm stare that made him want to melt into the sofa cushions so he wouldn't have to talk about this. "We could tiptoe around it, or you can get it off your chest. You two have avoided the hell out of each other since you got here."</p>
<p>"Wh- we're not <em>avoiding</em>- or, uhh, I'm-I'm not avoiding <em>her</em>, but she... she-" Rhys stared at Vaughn for a beat before he exhaled heavily, sinking backwards into the cushions as he did. Vaughn blinked at his slumped form. "... She hates me."</p>
<p>Vaughn's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Where did you get that from?"</p>
<p>Rhys barked out a short, mirthless laugh as some of the misery settled in the pit of his gut again. "Well, after I, y'know, reminded her about all my fuck-ups, including and not limited to hiding Handsome Jack in my head and not saying anything, then putting them all in danger from death by sentient space station, she, uhh, suddenly wanted to pretend she lives in a world where I don't exist-"</p>
<p>"Rhys."</p>
<p>"... She's pissed. Like, really pissed."</p>
<p>"That doesn't mean she 'hates' you," Vaughn said fairly, struggling slightly. Rhys shook his head and gazed moodily out at the dark desert.</p>
<p>"I don't know, Vaughn. Something feels different." The inky sky speckled with stars reminded him of the nights in the desert. Talking. Laughing. A wave of aching sadness washed over him. "This is gonna sound weird, but... I know we were being held hostage and could've been shot at any minute- well, uhh, I don't think Loader Bot would <em>actually</em> have shot- ugh, anyway. Those few days, when it was just-just me and Fiona. I... didn't hate it."</p>
<p>Vaughn remained silent, though Rhys could sense him gazing at him.</p>
<p>"It was actually... nice. Not the desert, dehydration, being tied up part..."</p>
<p>"The Fiona part," Vaughn finished the sentence Rhys was struggling to put together, smiling gently.</p>
<p>"... Yeah." Rhys glanced at Vaughn briefly as he slumped further, before staring at the coffee cup again. The stars had lost their lustre suddenly. "I don't think it matters. Maybe if-if it had just been her, but I think she hates me 'cause of Sasha. 'Cause I could have got her killed. Intentional or not, I guess it doesn't change that."</p>
<p>"Mmm," Vaughn rubbed his chin as he stared vaguely at a spot behind Rhys. "Sasha's old enough to make her own choices. It's not like you forced her to go and besides, I think Vallory was the one calling the shots anyway." Rhys made a noise of partial agreement, though it was half-hearted. "But, yeah. Those two are close. And I think even now, Fiona's very protective of her."</p>
<p>"Uh-huh. Hence the whole 'hating me' thing."</p>
<p>"Did you apologise?" Vaughn said carefully.</p>
<p>Rhys blinked across at him, mouth open slightly. "I mean, I told her and Loader Bot everything, she know why what happened, happened-"</p>
<p>"I know," Vaughn cut in somewhat bluntly and Rhys had the sense he'd missed the point. "But did you <em>apologise</em>? Say you were sorry for what went down?"</p>
<p>"I..." Rhys thought back to their heated exchanges in those last hours. A sinking sensation in his chest as he realised.</p>
<p>"I know you didn't intend for anything bad to happen. <em>She</em> knows." Vaughn shrugged honestly, smiling slightly. "Honestly? I really don't think she hates you. I think she's pissed. And conflicted. Maybe she just... needs to hear it, from you."</p>
<p>Rhys blinked at him as a swell of something - hope? - rose through him. <em>God</em>, now Vaughn had said it, it seemed blindingly obvious.</p>
<p>"I don't know if it will change anything," Vaughn warned gently, "but it can't get any worse than it already is, right? Rhys, we might have been killed by a vault monster by this time tomorrow. You... want to leave it like this?"</p>
<p><em>No</em>, Rhys thought. Even if they did die and it wouldn't even matter any more.</p>
<p>"You should go find her."</p>
<p>"... I should go find her." Filled with a sudden nervous, jumpy and wonderful energy, Rhys stood abruptly, practically slamming the half-full cup down as he clambered past Vaughn. He paused to clasp Vaughn's shoulder, smiling down at him. "Thanks, Vaughn."</p>
<p>"Finish the damn coffee first, Rhys."</p>
<p>"Wh- it's<em> cold</em>!"</p>
<p>"You're the one draining my supply, bro, it's the least you can do."</p>
<p>Rhys huffed and hurried back to drain the cup, making an aghast noise as he did, which caused Vaughn to laugh. Rhys glared at him as he wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve, hurrying out of the room, which only caused Vaughn to laugh harder.</p>
<p>"Good luck!"</p>
<p>---------------------</p>
<p>Laughter echoing down the hallway told Rhys where he could find her. It sounded like she was with someone else - Sasha? Sasha had arrived the previous day and the two had practically been glued to each other since, which had made Fiona somewhat difficult to pin down. As if it hadn't been difficult enough already.</p>
<p>He rounded the corner to find the sisters in another former office that had been repurposed as a kitchen by Vaughn and his crew. A large, round table sat in the centre and Fiona and Sasha sat at it, their backs to Rhys, snacking on chunks of some sort of... meat? Rocks? It was difficult to tell. He just stood, watching, for a moment as he contemplated what he wanted to say, chewing his lip slightly.</p>
<p>Even from behind, it was easy to spot the tension in Fiona's posture. Rhys had barely seen her since they'd reached the shell of Helios, but it seemed she hadn't managed to relax at all. Well, they <em>were</em> only hours away from fighting a vault monster, though Rhys guessed there was more to it than that.</p>
<p>Sasha, though, looked the most relaxed he'd ever seen her. She'd greeted him with a hug, to his enormous surprise, when she'd arrived, had smiled easily and had been the warm, calming presence that everyone had needed. The thought of taking on a whole vault monster apparently hadn't fazed her at all, in fact, Rhys rather suspected she was looking forward to it.</p>
<p>Sasha, laughing at something Fiona had said, happened to glance back and spotted Rhys standing awkwardly by the entrance. She glanced quickly at Fiona, appearing to hesitate for a split second, before she smiled back at Rhys.</p>
<p>"Hey!"</p>
<p>Fiona turned, perhaps expecting Vaughn and there was a slight delay as she registered it was Rhys. He saw her tense immediately.</p>
<p>"Hey Sasha. ... Fiona."</p>
<p>Fiona nodded at him as she turned to her left in her seat and grasped the top of the plastic chair back, fingers curling tightly over the top of it. Ready to bolt, Rhys thought miserably. Sasha glanced back at Fiona, eyebrows raised slightly.</p>
<p>"Look, Fiona, before you run for the hills, can I talk to you?"</p>
<p>"Can it wait?" Fiona said, not unkindly, but tone cool. "We've got a lot on tomorrow. I'm a little busy-"</p>
<p>Sasha snorted loudly. "No, you're not." Fiona snapped her gaze to her, mouth open slightly in outrage. "Well, you're not! You've been clinging to me like a limpet since I got here, I haven't even had chance to pick out my guns yet."</p>
<p>Fiona closed her mouth quickly and shot a mild glare at Sasha, who smiled broadly.</p>
<p>"Five minutes, Fiona," Rhys said quietly, "that's all I'm asking for. Then, you never have to speak to me again, if you don't want."</p>
<p>Fiona gazed up at him and Rhys could see the conflict behind her eyes.</p>
<p>"Fi," Sasha said softly, placing a gentle, warm hand on her sister's knee, "just hear him out."</p>
<p>"Whose side are you on?" Fiona muttered, causing Sasha to sit back and fix her with a firm stare.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, how old are we? There are no 'sides' here. I don't know what's going on with you two, but you're being terrible about whatever it is. Just listen to words for a few minutes, then you can go back to being all sullen, if that's what you want."</p>
<p>Fiona went slightly pink as she dropped her gaze and even Rhys was taken aback, having never heard Sasha be so firm with Fiona before.</p>
<p>"Alright," Fiona said as she pulled her gaze back up and met Rhys' eyes. "But first, I need a drink." She stood abruptly and went to one of the makeshift cupboards at the back of the kitchen, out of earshot as she searched for a glass. Rhys let out the breath he'd been holding as he met Sasha's eyes and mouthed a 'thank you'.</p>
<p>"She hasn't filled me in on... this, whatever this is," Sasha said quietly as she stood. "What did you <em>do</em>? I've never seen her like this."</p>
<p>Rhys laughed mirthlessly and softly. "She's still angry about everything that happened. Which, yeah. Can't say I blame her." Rhys frowned as he looked at Sasha and something occurred to him. "Wait... why aren't you angry? You greeted me like an old friend when you got here. I was expecting you to be pissed, too."</p>
<p>"I was," Sasha admitted quietly as Fiona clattered around at the other end of the room, searching for the alcohol stash, "at the beginning. It got... messy. We barely got back to Hollow Point in one piece. Guess I just accepted everything that happened, and I guess that helped me. I knew you never meant to hurt any of us." She smiled up at him. "You kinda get a measure of someone when you end up travelling halfway across a planet with them. Despite your... questionable choice to work for Hyperion, I could tell you're not a bad person."</p>
<p>"Well, thanks," Rhys smiled back, "and you're alright yourself. For, y'know, Pandoran scum."</p>
<p>"Careful," Sasha said but she was grinning. Her smile faded as she turned to look at Fiona, who was apparently growing frustrated, having not found anything to drink yet. "Fiona took it harder than I did, I think. She was in a funk for months. She checked the ECHO-Net a lot, you know. We thought you'd died. I think she found it hard to deal with everything, being angry at you and then guilty about being angry at a dead person. She didn't get closure. And I guess that means she didn't, or couldn't, just let everything go."</p>
<p>Rhys remembered his own anger, back when he'd thought he'd been abandoned. But mostly, the hurt. It had consumed him for a time. Focusing on kick-starting Atlas again had provided him with a lifeline to cling to during the darker days. The hurt remained in the background, lingering and threatening to come back without warning. Some days, it had been suffocating.</p>
<p>"Why aren't people like robots?" Rhys muttered, prompting a quirk of an amused eyebrow from Sasha. "Y'know? When something goes wrong, you can just... fix it. A loose screw, some bad code. Open up a panel and stick a screwdriver in there and bam. Fixed." Sasha giggled softly as Rhys sighed in resignation. "People are... people are <em>hard</em>."</p>
<p>"Some more than others. Fiona definitely got all of the 'stubborn' genes," Sasha offered, glancing at Fiona, who had finally located the alcohol and promptly downed an entire glass of it in one swift move. Sasha shook her head gently, closing her eyes in mild exasperation.</p>
<p>"Alright, I'm set," Fiona announced, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "There's a quiet spot nearby. C'mon."</p>
<p>"I can just go somewhere-" Sasha called to her, but Fiona had already half-stalked out of the room. Sasha sighed in exasperation. "I love her and I know she's going through some stuff, but she can be really immature sometimes." She hesitated, gazing at Rhys for a moment. "Especially about things she cares about the most. Things, and people." Suddenly overly-bright, she beamed at him and patted his shoulder a couple of times. "So, good luck!"</p>
<p>Rhys exhaled a laugh as his mouth went dry. "Thanks. ... Seriously."</p>
<p>"You're welcome," she said graciously while pretend-curtseying. "Go on, before she power-walks all the way to the tundra."</p>
<p>"Yeah..." Rhys patted Sasha's shoulder in appreciation and hurried out of the room.</p>
<p>----------------------</p>
<p>Fiona stood with her hip against a railing residing in yet another broken Hyperion corridor, her arms crossed as she looked out at the view. Part of this corridor had torn away, leaving a surprisingly pleasant, open window into the Pandoran desert. The sky was speckled with stars and there was a warm breeze that gently brushed her arms and face every now and then.</p>
<p>She tapped her arm impatiently with her index finger, torn between wanting Rhys to just show up so they could get this over with, and hoping he'd just wandered off somewhere so they wouldn't have to face the overwhelming awkwardness that had settled between them.</p>
<p>Alright, so she could admit she was responsible for a lot of <em>that</em>.</p>
<p>But, what could he possibly say that would fix this?</p>
<p>Rhys rounded the corner and her stomach flip-flopped uncomfortably.</p>
<p>They should have just had it out the minute they got to Helios. Instead, the awkwardness had festered and grown into something that clawed its way into Fiona's throat and made it feel like it was closing up. She couldn't have said anything if she wanted to.</p>
<p>The alcohol had been a bad idea. Instead of helping soothe her nerves, it had set them on fire.</p>
<p>She turned to face him fully. This was <em>silly</em>, for goodness sake. They were two grown adults and, what was more, two grown adults who had to fight a bloody <em>vault monster</em> in a matter of hours. They were going to have to work as a team to succeed, which meant Fiona had no choice but to face... this.</p>
<p>The thought of facing a vault monster scared her less. She steeled herself.</p>
<p>"... Hey."</p>
<p>Rhys' voice was full of gentle caution, as though trying to calm a trapped animal. He hovered awkwardly, but it was his expression that caused her chest to tighten. As though everything that mattered to him rode on this one conversation and one wrong move could shatter it, this, whatever they had, forever.</p>
<p>If it hadn't shattered already.</p>
<p>Oh god. She couldn't do this. She couldn't be responsible for shattering it beyond repair.</p>
<p>"This was a bad idea," she muttered, throat constricting as she dropped her gaze and made to walk away as quickly as possible and Rhys must have known she was going to do exactly that. He caught her wrist as she tried to dart past him and just held it, not forcefully and she could have pulled away if she wanted. But she stopped and half-turned toward him, though she couldn't quite meet his eyes, fearful of what she'd find there.</p>
<p>"Rhys-"</p>
<p>"Fiona, <em>please</em>," he sounded as exhausted as she felt, "look, you don't have to say anything, ok? I'm just gonna... gonna say a load of words and I'd really appreciate if you listened, I-I mean, I'm not gonna <em>force</em> you to listen, that's up to you, but I'd appreciate it."</p>
<p>He was still gently holding her wrist with his human hand. Fiona wasn't sure whether it was his pulse she could feel through his fingertips, or her own as her heart beat uncomfortably loudly.</p>
<p>Rhys appeared to deduce that her lack of trying to get away meant she was willing to listen.</p>
<p>"Ok. So. ... Ok."</p>
<p>She looked up at him as he faltered, having apparently not ironed out exactly what it was he wanted to say.</p>
<p>The pad of his thumb rested lightly against the inside of her wrist and it was all she could focus on.</p>
<p>Rhys sighed heavily. "I messed up. <em>Really</em> messed up. And I know I already explained <em>why</em> it happened, but yeah. It doesn't change anything. That I put everyone in danger, that I should have said something. But, no more excuses."</p>
<p>His thumb moved slightly, a feather touch and it caused shockwaves to ripple up her arm and throughout the rest of her, too.</p>
<p>Was he aware of the effect he was having on her? He couldn't possibly have missed that her breath had caught in her throat, or that her face had flushed - at least, it was certainly a lot warmer now. That her pulse had tripped over itself. Was he doing it deliberately?</p>
<p>"I'm sorry, Fiona." His expression was raw, open and honest and a part of a... wall? Whatever it was she'd built up, maybe to protect herself - it crumbled. "I am. For everything. For not telling you. Whatever my reasons, they weren't good enough. I can't change what I did but, believe me, if I could, I would."</p>
<p>She wanted to take the hand holding her wrist and pull him into an embrace, and push him away and run all at the same time and neither side was winning and she just stood as the suffocating sensation of the conflict washed over her in violent waves.</p>
<p>"I, uhh, don't really know what else to say," he said with an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. "I just... yeah. I should have said it sooner. Umm-" Rhys looked at his hand holding her wrist and blinked a couple of times. Then, with a faint trace of horrified <em>what the hell am I doing</em><em>?</em> on his face, he let go.</p>
<p>Fiona unconsciously grasped the wrist with her other hand, trying to trap in the warmth he'd left on her skin.</p>
<p>"So-so, I'm, uh, gonna go now. We can figure out the vault monster details in the morning. And then, uhh, I guess, whatever happens next." He rubbed his neck again and couldn't meet her eyes.</p>
<p>Fiona said nothing and he turned to go, awkwardly waving a hand and smiling painfully as he did. A wave of unspecified emotion roiled through her. He was almost out of sight when she finally managed to force a word up through her throat.</p>
<p>"Rhys!"</p>
<p>He turned, full of caution and something that could only resemble hope.</p>
<p>Fiona just took him in, wondering why she'd called out when she suddenly couldn't think of a damn thing to say. <em>It's not gonna make me forget everything? I appreciate it? I forgive you, now kiss me, you damn lanky Hyperion?</em></p>
<p>She swallowed the lump in her throat.</p>
<p>"... Thank you."</p>
<p>Even from this distance, she saw something fracture behind his eyes.</p>
<p>A brief pause, then he simply smiled slightly, nodded at her in acceptance and walked away.</p>
<p>----------------------</p>
<p>Sasha was in the room they were sharing when Fiona reached it - some sort of ex-Hyperion apartment that had survived the crash remarkably well. Twin beds lined the wall and Sasha occupied one. Propped up with a couple of pillows, she sat, cross-legged, as she serviced one of her guns - her prized Atlas Silver. An array of tools Fiona had never even seen before lay in front of her. The room was dimly lit by a single, warm lamp and Fiona wondered how Sasha could see a damn thing she was working on. She looked up as Fiona walked in and smiled.</p>
<p>"Hey, you."</p>
<p>Fiona made a very small noise of greeting. She then walked to the foot of the other bed and let herself fall forward, not bothering to break her fall onto the surprisingly soft mattress with her arms. Her face hit the pillow and buried itself and she couldn't even bring herself to turn her head to face Sasha. She heard Sasha laugh.</p>
<p>"That bad, huh?"</p>
<p>Fiona simply made a noise that was muffled by the pillow.</p>
<p>"Alright, Fi. You've sulked enough. <em>What</em> is going on?"</p>
<p>Fiona finally turned her head to face Sasha, who studied her with mild concern.</p>
<p>"... He apologised."</p>
<p>Sasha blinked at her a couple of times. "And that's... bad? ... Off with his head?"</p>
<p>"I had no idea what he was going to say. What he <em>could</em> say. Somehow, I just wasn't expecting <em>that</em>."</p>
<p>"Ok?" Sasha's face was a picture of confusion. "But, that's a good thing, right? Assuming he apologised for what I think he apologised for."</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"... But?"</p>
<p>Fiona pulled herself into a slumped sitting position. Her stomach churned uncomfortably. "It doesn't change anything."</p>
<p>Sasha gently placed her gun and the tool she was using down onto the duvet in front of her and turned to face Fiona fully. She pulled her legs from their crossed position and swung them over the side of the bed.</p>
<p>"It doesn't change what he <em>did</em>," Fiona continued sadly. "He-"</p>
<p>"I know what he did, Fi. I was there too, remember?" Sasha sighed gently and studied her sister calmly but firmly. "Is this how it's gonna be, now? You're just going to let this eat you up like this?"</p>
<p>"Sasha, you could have <em>died</em>."</p>
<p>"I could have died at any point living on this planet," Sasha countered shortly.</p>
<p>"That's different," Fiona said firmly, turning to face her fully. "No-one you've been friends with here knowingly put you in danger like that-"</p>
<p>"August shot at me!" Sasha scoffed, half-laughing mirthlessly. "He could have killed me! And you haven't held him to ransom like you seem to be doing with Rhys."</p>
<p>A fair point. "I knew you could handle August," Fiona muttered but it was a weak argument. "But Hyperion? Handsome <em>Jack</em>?"</p>
<p>"Alright, look, Fi," Sasha fixed her with a firm look, "you've been out of sorts for months. And now, you're like this and have been ever since you arrived here, according to Vaughn. I know you took everything that happened badly and I really can't blame you, because it sucked." Her expression softened slightly. "But, you're dragging Rhys through the fire for this-"</p>
<p>"Because he <em>lied</em>-"</p>
<p>"I know, Fiona!" Sasha half-shouted in exasperation. "And don't think that I wasn't pissed at him because he put <em>you</em> in danger, too! It works both ways - you think I don't worry about you, too? But the difference is, I recognise that he didn't mean to do it, and that he's genuinely sorry for it." Sasha paused, seemingly choosing her next words carefully. "You have feelings for him, don't you?"</p>
<p>Fiona scoffed and looked away, her face growing warm. Sasha took this as confirmation.</p>
<p>"Look-"</p>
<p>"It doesn't matter," Fiona cut in abruptly, dropping her gaze and squeezing her eyes closed, "it's done. There's too much that's happened, too much <em>hurt</em>. And not just on my end. I think... I think I've screwed things up." She sighed heavily. "Should have seen his face just now. I just..."</p>
<p>"Ok, Fi," Sasha leaned forward and took Fiona's hands in her own. Fiona opened her eyes and gazed miserably at her. Sasha's hands were warm and it was comforting. "The way I see it, you have a choice here. You can go on like this, continuing to blame him for everything going wrong, unable to get past it. Feeling miserable. Or, you can accept that what happened, happened, and that he's sorry. You know? And even if things aren't quite the same between you guys, look, it's gotta be better than this. People make mistakes. Sometimes they're really big mistakes. That's people." She squeezed Fiona's hands gently. "You gonna let that come in the way of something good? Don't think I didn't notice how well you guys got on when we were travelling together."</p>
<p>An aching longing as Fiona thought back to the carefree days in the caravan. Dark, starry nights regaling stories about Pandora and their exploits to Rhys. God, she missed it.</p>
<p>"Look, just, don't throw something good away because you're too proud and stubborn to get past this. It'll just eat you up and you deserve better than that." Sasha smiled at her.</p>
<p>Fiona just gazed at her for a moment, then let out a weak chuckle, smiling back. "When did you get so wise?"</p>
<p>"I know, right?" Sasha winked at her, grinning.</p>
<p>A laugh bubbled its way out from Fiona's chest. "We can shoot bad guys and fight off vault monsters, but this? This is... weird. Why is this the hardest thing to deal with?"</p>
<p>"People are... complicated. But, hey. The good ones are worth it." Sasha's eyes became mischievous suddenly. "You, dear sister, can be a pain in the ass sometimes," and Fiona laughed genuinely for the first time in days, "but you're worth it."</p>
<p>"I could say the same about you," Fiona grinned at her. She paused and looked at their hands, still holding each other. "Ha. Look at us! Getting all soppy and talking about <em>feelings</em>."</p>
<p>"And a boy," Sasha winked at her again. "If I had some nail polish with me, I'd be painting your nails right now."</p>
<p>Fiona laughed freely again. Thank the gods for Sasha. She already felt better than she had in days. Weeks.</p>
<p>"It's kinda nice though, huh? We've always been so focused on surviving that we never really had chance to do this. Just, talk about girly things."</p>
<p>Sasha snorted loudly. "I don't think either of us fulfil 'girly'," and Fiona chuckled in agreement, "but yeah, it's nice to just... be sisters. Without worrying about where our next meal will come from."</p>
<p>"Yeah, all we gotta worry about is taking down a massive vault monster," Fiona said, grinning.</p>
<p>"Oh, we've got <em>that</em>," Sasha said, waving a hand in the air dismissively and playfully.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'm not even worried about that part." Fiona's smile faded slightly. She felt a squeeze from Sasha's other hand into her own.</p>
<p>"You got that, too." Sasha smiled gently at her.</p>
<p>"Mmm." Fiona's stomach churned again.</p>
<p>"Things will look better in the morning. Start simple. With a good night's sleep!"</p>
<p>"Yes, boss," Fiona saluted at Sasha and they both giggled. "Yeah, but seriously, I'm gonna do that. I'm wiped."</p>
<p>"Mind if I keep the lamp on? I've not had any time to work on my guns since <em>someone</em> has been so intent on moping about the place-"</p>
<p>"Ehh, shush," Fiona took her hat and playfully threw it at Sasha, who caught it deftly and sat it on her own head. "Huh. Suits you. You're not keeping it."</p>
<p>"Don't worry, sis, I know how terrifyingly attached you are to your wardrobe." Sasha grinned at her. "Now, sleep. You're bad enough on lack of sleep <em>without</em> factoring in a big-ass vault monster that we have to destroy to save our friend."</p>
<p>Fiona waved her off as she removed her jacket and sank under the covers, grateful once again to have Sasha by her side. She watched Sasha work as she drifted off, a comfort she welcomed with open arms.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Traveler had been vanquished. Chunks of ancient Eridian stone littered the landscape, silent and unmoving, but even that couldn't detract from the beauty of what had opened beyond.</p>
<p>The Vault of the Traveler.</p>
<p>Finally.</p>
<p>Rhys and Fiona both stood at the foot of the looming portal, both staring up at it in quiet awe. It glowed with a powerful, ethereal quality.</p>
<p>Rhys chanced a glance in her direction. The light from the portal danced in her eyes as she stared at it with the reverence it deserved.</p>
<p>"So," he began, turning back to face it himself, "the Vault."</p>
<p>"The Vault," Fiona agreed.</p>
<p>"I mean, the <em>Vault</em>. Big ol' Vault. There it is. It is definitely... a Vault."</p>
<p>"Mmm," Fiona agreed and though she didn't look at him, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. "It's... big."</p>
<p>"Big ol' Vault."</p>
<p>"Well, the front door is big, anyway." Fiona shrugged slightly and glanced at him. "The inside could be really small."</p>
<p>"Little ol' Vault."</p>
<p>Behind them, a short distance away, Sasha, Vaughn and the rest were loudly and enthusiastically sorting through the loot the Traveler had so kindly left for them. Fiona closed her eyes for a moment, drinking it in. That Sasha was there, eagerly hunting for guns... if Fiona believed in any gods, she would have been thanking them for it.</p>
<p>"We could, y'know, check for ourselves. For, uhh, science," Rhys continued, half-smiling at her with a light shrug.</p>
<p>"I mean, we owe it to ourselves. And... Pandora," Fiona agreed, smiling slightly.</p>
<p>"Right. We're pioneers. Or, something equally as impressive."</p>
<p>"As if 'Vault Hunter' and 'Corporate CEO' weren't impressive enough?"</p>
<p>"Heh. Alright, I'll give you that. What can I say? Some people were born to be great to, like, a whole other dimension."</p>
<p>Fiona smirked as a familiar and very welcomed warmth blossomed in her chest. She'd missed this.</p>
<p>The morning following their somewhat painful conversation - well, if <em>conversation</em> was the right word, more like 'Rhys said a lot of words while Fiona stood there' - had been incredibly awkward, to put it mildly. Sasha had been right, the good night's sleep had definitely helped and Fiona had been amazed at how well she'd actually slept that night, all things considered. Athena and Janey had arrived as they'd eaten breakfast and, together with Zer0, they'd combed over their plans to defeat the Traveler several times to ensure they all knew their roles.</p>
<p>Fiona and Rhys had barely been able to look at each other, truth be told. But, this mission had been bigger than both of them and they'd been able to put aside everything raging in their own heads to focus on the Vault. To focus on getting Gortys back.</p>
<p>They'd fallen straight back into stride, working together once again. And <em>god</em>, how they worked well together.</p>
<p>And, somehow, something shifted. The <em>thing</em> that had festered between them had diminished to a point where they could at least talk to each other now without wanting to run in the opposite direction.</p>
<p>Not that either one of them had wanted <em>that</em> in the first place.</p>
<p>Rhys glanced over his shoulder to where the others were scrambling to pick up loot. "Surprised they didn't charge over here, too. I mean, it's a <em>Vault</em>. How many of these does anyone see in an entire lifetime?"</p>
<p>Fiona turned slightly to watch the group. "Mmm. Maybe they're letting us have this one. We <em>did</em> technically start this whole thing. Besides, I think Sasha at least has everything she was looking for." Fiona smiled softly as she watched Sasha eagerly sort through some of the guns littering the dusty ground. Sasha's arm was in a makeshift sling but even that couldn't stop her diving for every gun she could see.</p>
<p>"Yeah," Rhys also smiled gently as he watched Sasha enthusiastically wave a shield at Vaughn, who perked up at the sight of it. Loader Bot and Gortys were chatting a short distance away. Zer0 and Athena appeared to be chatting about big Vault monsters and Vaults, if Janey's disapproving expression was anything to go by, anyway. Rhys exhaled slowly. Everyone was ok. They were ok.</p>
<p>He made a grand, sweeping gesture toward the Vault with his arm. "Shall we?"</p>
<p>"We've come all this way," Fiona said quietly, flashes of memories resurfacing and causing a wave of aching nostalgia. She let it wash over her, then suddenly offered a half-smile in his direction. "It would be a shame to just leave it here, huh?"</p>
<p>"Someone else would only come in and see what's inside," Rhys shrugged lightly, "I mean, what if it's awful in there? We're doing Pandora a <em>favour</em>."</p>
<p>"Yeah. What if it's full of skags?" Fiona smirked at him. "Or skin pizzas?"</p>
<p>"Oh, god," Rhys visibly paled and held his metal hand to his stomach, "nope, I'm out-"</p>
<p>"Don't even think about it, Strongfork," Fiona fixed him with a mock stern stare, crossing her arms. "We started this thing together, so, that's how we're gonna end it."</p>
<p>Rhys stared openly at her for a beat. Together.</p>
<p>It sounded so... <em>right. </em></p>
<p>He suddenly didn't want to go inside, if it meant the end. If only they could just press pause, right here. The two of them, together again after all this time and after everything, the hurt, the anger and yet they were in step again.</p>
<p>It had come so easily, even after everything that had happened in the last few days. Layers of a mental fortress, likely built to protect themselves, melting away.</p>
<p>It would have been too much for some people. Yet, here they were.</p>
<p>"Alright, then," he smiled at her. This wasn't the end. Not if he had anything to say about it. "Together."</p>
<p>They stepped through the shimmering portal.</p>
<p>Rhys had squeezed his eyes closed as he stepped through. Just in case something bad happened. He heard Fiona gasp softly and, once he realised the door hadn't killed them, opened his eyes again.</p>
<p>Nothing could have prepared him. Overwhelmingly <em>purple</em>, for a start. So unlike anything he'd ever seen before and he'd seen a lot by this point. Floating steps, weird crystals. A glowing chest at the head of it all. Alien, and beautiful.</p>
<p>"Huh," he said quietly, mouth open slightly as he took it all in. "I was right."</p>
<p>"Big ol' Vault," Fiona chimed in, smiling. They glanced at each other and the Vault was reflected in her eyes.</p>
<p>It looked even more beautiful from this angle. Purples mixed with soft greens and he could have drowned in it all.</p>
<p>"And there's a treasure chest. Very considerate of the aliens to reward us for not being squashed to death by their giant monster... thing."</p>
<p>"Guess we'd better see what's inside," Fiona shrugged lightly, "just to check it isn't dangerous, obviously."</p>
<p>"For, uhh, Pandora?" Rhys smirked, causing her to grin and roll her eyes.</p>
<p>"Sod 'em, we earned this."</p>
<p>They began to walk toward their hard-earned reward. Rhys was still mildly surprised that the others hadn't followed them in, especially Zer0 and Athena. Maybe they'd seen enough Vaults to last a lifetime. He began to climb the steps, slightly nervous at first - there were no handrails to grab onto if he lost his footing. Hopefully Fiona would be able to stop him from badly injuring himself. She'd been remarkably good at that during their travels.</p>
<p>Rhys stopped as he realised she was no longer in step beside him. He turned to find her stood at the bottom of the stairs, one foot gingerly placed onto the first step in front of her. He couldn't see her face - she appeared to be staring down at the foot she'd placed on the step.</p>
<p>"Fiona...?"</p>
<p>She gently pulled the foot off the step and took a step backwards. Then, she looked up, directly at him, and Rhys' breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of her expression.</p>
<p>She looked like she was about to cry.</p>
<p>Well. This was deeply unsettling.</p>
<p>Her eyes were wide as she flicked her gaze to the chest at the top of the stairs, mouth open slightly. Rhys was thrown and already questioning what he could possibly have done to cause <em>this</em>.</p>
<p>"Are you... ok?" Rhys ventured cautiously. This was new territory. He'd experienced Fiona in heated anger, deep hurt. This was different - she almost looked vulnerable.</p>
<p>She looked back at him, open and honest. Her voice was barely a whisper. "I don't want this to end."</p>
<p>Rhys turned to fully face her, gently, lost for words. He didn't have to find any - she suddenly started laughing somewhat hysterically. He blinked down at her a couple of times.</p>
<p>"Even after everything, <em>hah</em>! We should be dead, we had <em>no</em> right to survive what we did - I should be relieved it's done, but I'm <em>not</em>." Some of the hysteria bubbled away and she stared up at him, face flushed, eyes wide. "You - and Vaughn - you completely upended my life, <em>our</em> lives, with your stupid plan to get one over on Vasquez and that ridiculous journey... the one where we nearly died a <em>lot. </em>Even today! Sasha <em>died</em>. I thought I'd lost her."</p>
<p>She appeared to collect herself, taking in a deep breath. "That stupid journey was the best thing that's ever happened to me. And now we're here and... I'm not ready to say goodbye."</p>
<p>Fiona had somehow managed to sum up, in a single, emotional outburst, exactly how he'd been feeling for days. Months, even. He exhaled softly, smiling gently, as a crushing wave of relief crashed through him.</p>
<p>He descended the steps back toward her. "It doesn't have to end," he said softly, fighting the impulse to pull her into an embrace. "No-one is saying it has to end. So, why should it?"</p>
<p>Fiona stared up at him as he stepped down to her. Her heart stumbled in her chest as he stopped in front of her, so close and warm and <em>right</em> <em>there</em>.</p>
<p>Maybe it was the Vault, or maybe she was still riding the high of defeating the Vault monster. Maybe it was because she'd almost lost her sister less than an hour ago. Maybe, for the first damn time in her life, she was just going to think 'fuck it' and do something terribly impulsive and just deal with the consequences later.</p>
<p>She stepped forward, grabbed the collar of that damn shirt that fit him <em>far</em> too well, it was almost unfair, and half-pulled him down as she pulled herself onto her tiptoes but maybe even that was unnecessary because he was definitely leaning down toward her-</p>
<p>Their lips met.</p>
<p>Fiona had kissed people before.</p>
<p>Never before had she felt this. An explosion of butterflies in her stomach, or fireworks, or something just as cliché but <em>damn</em> if it wasn't real. Lightheaded, limbs trembling - her hands tightly clutching his shirt collar were the only things grounding her.</p>
<p>A minute passed or maybe it was an hour, who knew. Who cared?</p>
<p>His hand was on the side of her face, in her hair - knocking her beloved hat off. On the back of her neck. His metal arm curled around her waist but the gentle touch at the base of her neck as fingertips brushed along it was responsible for the pleasant shiver running down her spine.</p>
<p>Her left hand abandoned the shirt collar and curled around his neck and he hadn't managed to find any hair gel in the desert, his hair was soft and she pushed her fingers into it where it began at the back of his neck. She was certain she felt him shudder.</p>
<p>They pulled apart, reluctantly, at least, definitely on Fiona's end. She blinked up at him, flushed warm, as he stared rather comically down at her, mouth slightly open.</p>
<p>Oh, crap. Was that a good thing?</p>
<p>She'd kind of just... done it. He'd definitely leaned in, though. ... Right?</p>
<p>For once, Fiona was the one stumbling all over her words.</p>
<p>"I, umm, heh," she flicked the hair that had fallen in front of her face aside in a somewhat nervous gesture. "Kinda just... did that, huh. Sor-"</p>
<p>Rhys placed the fingertips of his left hand on her lips, ever so gently, shocking her into silence. "If you say you're 'sorry', I will throw you out of this Vault and take all the treasure for myself."</p>
<p>He laughed, a warm, hearty exhale of a laugh. "You have <em>no</em> idea how long I've wanted to do that."</p>
<p>She smiled, big warm and slightly nervous. "Probably about as long as I have, I'd wager."</p>
<p>"Honestly thought I'd be the one to break first," Rhys said, half-smiling at her.</p>
<p>"Huh. Me too, actually. Don't get used to it. This is the smoothest you'll ever be." She winked at him, grinning.</p>
<p>"I'll take it. On the condition that we do <em>that</em> again."</p>
<p>"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement."</p>
<p>"Spoken like a true businesswoman," Rhys held out his hand to her and she snorted loudly, before grasping his hand in hers and giving it a firm shake.</p>
<p>"Alright, hotshot. We can talk 'business' after we crack open this chest."</p>
<p>"Deal," he grinned at her and winked. Fiona shook her head, smiling, as she retrieved her hat from the floor and carefully placed it back on her head.</p>
<p>They fell into step beside each other as they began to climb the steps leading to the chest. A comfortable silence settled between them as they just enjoyed the feeling of, well, <em>this</em>. Nerve endings on fire, excitement and the thrill of a new adventure that promised to be just as exciting as the last.</p>
<p>"Well, then," Rhys began as they reached the summit. "Big ol' chest."</p>
<p>"Mmm," Fiona eyed it hungrily as they stepped toward it. "What do you think is inside?"</p>
<p>Rhys gave the chest a long look as he considered his answer. "Well... Vault of the 'Traveler'. Maybe we'll... end up travelling somewhere?"</p>
<p>"Aww, I didn't bring my suitcase. Damn."</p>
<p>"Ehh, we just spent days in the desert in the same clothes and you still managed to look stunning." Rhys went rather pink as Fiona looked up at him in amazement.</p>
<p>"<em>God</em>, Rhys," she laughed, snorting and grinning like a Cheshire cat, "did that Atlas deed come with a crash course in smoothness?"</p>
<p>"This is all me," he chuckled endearingly, "so, uh, something to look forward to?"</p>
<p>"I'll take your word for it."</p>
<p>"Mmm, sure. Anyway. What about you? What's inside this thing?"</p>
<p>Fiona stared at the chest, trying to remember everything she'd ever read about Vaults and alien treasures. "Alright, I think you're onto something with the 'Traveler' thing. Maybe it's something that aids travel? Like... a map." Her eyes lit up as she eyed the glyphs scattered across the lid of the chest. "A map that leads to more Vaults. That contain more maps. That lead to more Vaults! That lead to <em>more</em>- what are you laughing at?"</p>
<p>"Oh, nothing, except I think your eyes have turned into dollar signs."</p>
<p>"Imagine the possibilities!"</p>
<p>"Let's just, uhh, see what's in <em>this</em> one first. In case it's full of murder-bots."</p>
<p>"Or skin piz-"</p>
<p>"Oh-my-god <em>stop</em>."</p>
<p>Shoulder to shoulder. Warm fingers brushed hers, she looked down at them, smiling, and curled her ring and pinky fingers around his. A gentle squeeze.</p>
<p>Unspoken, they simultaneously placed their free hands on the chest. Without any further prompt, the chest began to glow brightly, the glyphs shining through in a mix of purple and warm white light. It enveloped both of them and they both closed their eyes against the intensity of it.</p>
<p>A moment passed, then another.</p>
<p>Fiona was the first to open her eyes to find that they were both... standing right outside of the entrance to the Vault. Except, now it was just an empty arch.</p>
<p>"... Uhh. Rhys?"</p>
<p>"Mmm?" Rhys' eyes were squeezed tightly closed. "Is it murder-bots? I knew it. I <em>knew</em>-"</p>
<p>"Rhys."</p>
<p>He finally opened his eyes, blinked, and immediately frowned in confusion. "I, uhh- what?" He looked around, to the empty arch and back around the desert again. "I... don't understand."</p>
<p>"You and me both," Fiona murmured, eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the former Vault entrance. "Did we miss something? Why are we just... back here?"</p>
<p>"Do you have any treasure? Pretty sure I don't have any treasure."</p>
<p>"Unless this is some 'the real treasure is the friends you made along the way' crap," Fiona snorted, "in which case, I want my money back."</p>
<p>"Well, maybe we can ask Zer0 and Athena? They've done this before, maybe they have some pointers for first-time Vault hunters. We probably, I dunno, missed a button somewhere?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Speaking of friends..." Fiona turned slightly to see Sasha, Vaughn and the rest staring right at them, apparently as confused as she was. She saw Sasha's eyes trail downwards slightly, her eyes widening before she suddenly broke into a sly grin. Fiona followed to where her sister's eyes had gone. To where Fiona and Rhys' fingers were still interlocked.</p>
<p>Oh, crap.</p>
<p>Rhys turned slightly to acknowledge the group and immediately spied Vaughn looking... smug? Definitely smug. Sasha was grinning from ear to ear. Fiona's fingers were still intertwined with his own.</p>
<p>"... Oh."</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"<em>Oh</em>."</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"... I think I'd rather face the Vault monster again. Vaughn is gonna be <em>relentless</em>."</p>
<p>"Sasha is going to have <em>far</em> too much fun with this. I can hear it all now."</p>
<p>Rhys exhaled a soft laugh as he met her eyes. "Alright, then. Well, we took down a Vault monster. This, I mean, <em>this</em>..."</p>
<p>"Yeah." Fiona shrugged lightly. "We got this. Endless teasing from our nearest and dearest, what's not to love?"</p>
<p>"Let's get this over with, then," Rhys sighed dramatically as they began to walk toward the group.</p>
<p>In the distance, the group spotted the pair heading toward them and quite suddenly pretended to be busy inspecting their loot, in Sasha's case, or talking about Vaults and loot in most other cases. Sasha still had a shit-eating grin on her face.</p>
<p>Fiona gave Rhys' fingers a quick squeeze, then suddenly dropped his hand. He stopped and looked at her, confused, before she grinned at him.</p>
<p>"Don't want to give them <em>too</em> much ammunition, do we?" She winked, before turning and jogging the rest of the way to the others.</p>
<p>Rhys let out a loud laugh as he watched her kick up dust, before breaking into a run to catch up. She slowed to let him catch up, which he did shortly thereafter, only slightly out of breath, to his credit.</p>
<p>"Together?"</p>
<p>"Together."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I had planned an epilogue that I've now decided to omit from this particular fic and potentially expand it into its own thing. Watch this space! </p>
<p>I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope it's a fun read. This is also the only shipfic I've ever written. Definitely a challenge for me, I consider myself aromantic so got stuck a few times. Hopefully I did Rhyiona some justice.</p>
<p>Feel free to leave a comment/kudos (shamelessly admit I love them). I'm so in love with this game and have more fics planned. I'm also on Tumblr, @Andaxay, come say hi if you want! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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